Opening Day

It may feel like winter, but spring is officially here.

See for yourself.

The baseball season got off to a great start at Miller Park.

All did not go as smoothly in San Diego. The fans did not greet Barry Bonds* warmly.

That's putting it mildly. They were hostile.

San Diego -- [I]f Barry Bonds continues to be treated as he was treated Monday by these fine folks, he and the Giants are in for a long year.

Opening Day broke into open season on the Giants' left fielder, who was booed with every movement and was the target of derisive signs and chants as he appeared in his first regular-season game since "Game of Shadows" was released two weeks ago and Major League Baseball's steroid investigation was launched one week ago.

"Hey, if that's what they want to do, embarrass themselves, then that's on them," Bonds said of Padres fans. "That has nothing to do with me at all. I just have to play baseball."

Bonds specifically was addressing an incident that occurred after the eighth inning -- an empty syringe, with no needle attached, was thrown onto the field as he headed to the dugout along the third-base line. He scooped up the needle with his glove, transferred it to his left hand and tossed it into a photo well.

"I just picked it off the field so no one would get hurt," he said.

There were other examples. One fan held a sign that read, "BARR-ROID." Another: "Bonds is the greatest hitter of this era." Except "hitter" was crossed out and replaced by "cheater." Other signs simply had asterisks, a suggestion that Bonds was assisted by performance-enhancing drugs while hitting some of his 708 home runs, the third most in big-league history, ranking behind Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth.

The noise was especially piercing in the sections around left field. Down in the corner, behind a see-through fence, dozens of fans normally are allowed to stand on a little field-level walkway and watch. But on Monday, things got nasty. Fans held signs with anti-Barry messages, in some cases grossly personal. Soon, security ordered the signs removed.

...Before the game, manager Felipe Alou offered a challenge to anyone intending to chastise Bonds. "Those who feel clean, go ahead and throw the first rock," Alou said. "If you're clean, if you haven't done anything wrong or been accused of anything wrong, go ahead and start the show."

Yikes!

I bet Bonds* would have preferred a fan throwing a rock at him, as Alou challenged, rather than the syringe.

Although I think some of the expressions of disapproval for Bonds* were way over the top, and throwing anything on to the field is inappropriate, the fans have a right to be unhappy.

The non-stop harassment during the game was distracting and wrong, but Bonds* and MLB brought it on themselves.

The steroid issue was ignored, and now the records of Major League Baseball have been compromised. Its history has been sullied.

Unruly fans and asterisks are the legacy of years of neglect.

It's a mess that can't be undone.